Benelli received a boost with the recent purchase of a controlling 30 per cent interest in its Qianjiang Motorcycle parent company by Chinese automotive giant Geely, which is best known outside China as owner of Swedish car maker Volvo since 2010.

Geely – which means ‘lucky’ in Mandarin – is owned by Li Shufu, who acquired the stake from Qianjiang’s state-owned holding company for $166 million, giving him effective control. Given Li’s visionary track record, it will be fascinating to see what his plans are for the bike company.

Li Shufu

Geely came to global attention when it purchased Volvo from Ford for $1.8bn – after Ford had paid $6.5bn for it in 1999. Sales have since reached record levels and profits more than tripled to $776 million.

Li has also bought Terrafugia (a US company trying to make flying cars a reality), The London Taxi Company, sports car maker Lotus Cars, 49.9pc of Malaysian carmaker Proton, and Aussie transmission maker Drivetrain Systems International (formerly Borg Warner Australia).